Mini-morsels of healthy goodness in these Broccoli Cornbread Muffins

Some fresh broccoli in the veggie bin of my fridge was giving me a guilt trip. I had purchased it on Christmas week to use some in the festivities, but by now the little green tree-like spikes were turning yellow around the gills. I needed to cook them in something quickly. What would be a good use?

Dinner was a big pot of our Easy Vegetable Soup, which has been covered in previous blogs (and springs from my cookbook, Way Back in the Country Garden). It needed a cornbread accompaniment to make things just perfect. I surfed the Internet for a broccoli cornbread recipe and immediately found something on www.myrecipes.com

This recipe (originally from April 2003 Southern Living) was for mini-muffins—all the better. Hubby and I could have that “just a bite” without feeling overloaded. The recipe said it yielded two dozen muffins, but I was able to get about 30 from the ample amount I stirred up. The fresh broccoli (subbed for the package of frozen broccoli called for) made the Broccoli Cornbread Muffins extremely tasty. The broccoli, onion, and cheddar cheese mixture was power-packed in these little gems. With the homemade veggie soup they were perfect. Wish I could say “perfect on a cold night”. In our part of Texas this winter we haven’t had too many of those yet. But it was perfect for the balmy January night that was an ideal clime outdoors for getting Christmas yard decorations removed, packaged, and put away.

I was thankful that I had saved that broccoli from extinction and made it into some darling muffins that we will enjoy for many days. And of course accolades for the little green veggie continue to pour in; an online list just yesterday commended broccoli once again as being a top cancer-fighting food.

Broccoli Cornbread Muffins

1 (8 1/2-ounce) package corn muffin mix

1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed (I used 10 ounces of fresh broccoli)

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese

1 small onion, chopped

2 large eggs (I used egg substitute)

1/2 cup butter, melted

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Stir together eggs and butter. Blend well. Add to broccoli mixture and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon into lightly greased mini-muffin pans. Fill three-fourths full. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Let stand 2 to 3 minutes before you remove muffins from pans. (Makes 24 to 30 muffins.)

Late-season farm stand yields zucchini for delightful mini-muffins

Oh boy, oh boy, we found a roadside farm stand still open and still offering fall veggies! Sometimes this late in the year we end up disappointed when we go on a hunt for outdoor produce stands, but the one to which we were directed in rural Oklahoma (where we traveled for Hubby's physical exam that I mentioned last week) was well-stocked and ready for business.

I jumped for joy when I saw zucchini on the produce table. Now I could make my Carrot-Zucchini Mini-Muffins that always smell so autumn-y when they're in the oven. The recipe was from a Family Circle magazine of several years back. I love the fact that these muffins are bite-sized and taste wonderful by themselves or with some of my homemade peach preserves that I put up during the summer.

I've mentioned this before, but it's worth repeating about a simple solution to recipes calling for buttermilk: any recipe calling for buttermilk has an easy substitution. In this case put 3 teaspoons vinegar in a one-cup measuring cup; then fill the remainder of the cup with skim milk. Let this stand for five minutes. You can forget about having to purchase buttermilk which has a high fat content and then be stuck with the remainder sitting around in the refrigerator unused.

We enjoyed these as a little "extra" with our breakfast cereal in the mornings, but they also would be great as an "extra" (healthy) side dish with a Thanksgiving meal. Thank you, little Oklahoma roadside stand, for being available to us with this fresh produce just before closing-down time for winter. Makes us eager for spring when the whole cycle starts up again.

Carrot-Zucchini Mini-Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 large egg (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

1 cup buttermilk (or 3 teaspoons white vinegar mixed with the rest of the cup filled with

skim milk)

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar (or 1/4 cup brown-sugar substitute)

1 small zucchini, shredded (1 cup)

2 medium carrots, peeled and shredded (1 cup)

1/2 cup pecans

2 tablespoons chopped pecans for topping

Heat oven to 375 degrees. With nonstick cooking spray, coat just the bottoms of three mini-muffin pans. In a large bowl whisk together both flours, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In medium-sized bowl, whisk egg, buttermilk, oil, and sugar until blended. Stir in zucchini, carrots, and nuts. Make a well in flour mixture; pour in egg mixture. Stir until dry ingredients are just moistened. Into each cup spoon a rounded tablespoon of batter. Sprinkle tops with chopped pecans. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes until toothpick emerges clean. Cool pans on rack for 5 minutes. Remove muffins; cool on rack. Makes 36 mini muffins.